Seven Things
by walutahanga
Summary: Seven things that Mei Pieh Chi might have done had she never met the other turtles. A look at some possible alternate futures for her.


**Title**: Seven things Mei might have done (had she never met the other turtles)  
**Author**: walutahanga  
**Disclaimer**: The ninja turtles universe and it's various characters are not mine. Not even Mei Pieh Chi, who no longer even exists in official continuity. Her legend shall live on in fanfic.

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**1. Might have fallen in love**

The sky was gray. Ho Long stood in the muddy yard, scaled hands held out as if to catch the first droplets of rain, eyes closed as he lifted his face to the sky. Mei watched him from the shelter of the verandah.

"You're going to get soaked," she warned him.

"I know." The dragon opened his mouth to taste the rain. "But it's been so long since I felt rain or wind on my skin… since I felt_ anything_…"

He lapsed into silence. Thunder rumbled in the distance. The fields on the horizon had already turned misty and blurred with the onset of heavy rain. It would reach them very soon.

Mei stood and joined Ho Long in the yard. The first droplets of rain were cold on her skin.

"Was it so terrible?" She asked softly. "In the mirror?"

"No," he said. "And yes." He opened his eyes to look at her. "What you have to understand was that the mirror was like nothing at all. You felt nothing in there. Not the rain on your skin, nor the warmth of the sun, nor – " He carressed her face. "– the touch of a beautiful woman."

Mei blushed. Ho Long often spoke to her thus, but she didn't know if he was serious, or merely flattering the woman who had freed him from his slavery to the Dragon Lord. She found Ho Long attractive, but she didn't know if she was at all pleasing by dragon standards. She was certainly not pleasing by human standards, and if there were any males of her own species, she had yet to encounter them.

"We will defeat the Dragon Lord," she said, turning the conversation in a direction she was more comfortable with. "And we will free the rest of the dragons trapped. You will see."

Ho Long sighed.

"But not without killing many more. Most of my kind remain loyal to their Lord. It will be a grim war, I fear, and costly."

Mei did not know what to say to that, so she remained silent.

Then, with a visible effort, Ho Long smiled.

"But enough of this talk," he said. "I'd rather enjoy the rain."

He closed his eyes and tilted his face towards the sky once more. The wind picked up a little, carrying the smell of moisture to them. Lightning cracked on the horizon, and thunder rumbled once more.

"You can go inside," Ho Long said out loud. "If you're afraid of getting wet."

Mei slid her fingers about his.

"If you don't mind," she said. "I think I'll stay here and enjoy the rain with you."

He didn't answer, but his hand squeezed hers tightly. They stood together, hand in hand, waiting for the rain to come.

---

**2. Might have died**

"That is disgusting."

Chu Chi made a face as she watched Mei hunch over her prey. The tiny green legs gave one last futile spasm and went still. Mei tossed the drained corpse aside, licking the blood from her fangs. The small dead turtle went skidding across the pet shop floor to join the rest of the turtles piled next to the shattered enclosure.

"Why don't you just eat humans, like a normal vamire?" Chu Chi continued.

"Why don't you go play with dolls, like a normal little girl?" Mei shot back.

"Children, children." Vam Mi's gliding approach had been so quiet, even their supernatural senses hadn't noticed her. She touched both vampires' heads lightly. "Play nice together. Chu Chi, all vampires prefer the blood of the species they originated from. Mei was once a turtle, and she prefers turtle blood. It is nothing to be ashamed of."

Chu Chi pouted and nodded.

"Yes, mother."

"Now," Vam Mi continued. "The shop owner is still breathing. Chu Chi, why don't you and Bing have a little snack, hmm?"

Chu Chi's pout turned into a smile. She kissed her sire's hand and walked over to the counter where Bing was crouched over the owner's prone form.

"My thanks, mother," Mei said softly, eyes downcast. "I know my eating habits are… unsavoury."

"Nonsense. I meant every word," Vam Mi said. "The most I am worried about is that my youngest childe is not getting the exercise she should." She nudged a turtle carcass with her foot. "This prey offers no challenge. You deserve much better, my dear."

Mei, whose eyes had been downcast, now looked up at her sire.

"You have… better prey?" She said hopefully.

Vam Mi's lips curved in an indulgent smile.

"Why do you think I brought our family all the way to New York?" She said.

"I… you… _thank_ you, mother." Mei appeared on the verge of tears. "It is more than I deserve. _So_ much more, since I tried to stop you retrieving your heart when I was mortal…"

Mei covered her face, as she always did when speaking of her great shame; that she had defied Vam Mi in life. She had been the adopted daughter of the Shinobi guarding Vam Mi's heart. When Vam Mi had found and killed the Shinobi, Mei had taken up her father's task. She'd been relatively successful, fleeing all over China in an effort to prevent Vam Mi being reunited with her heart and attaining her full strength. She'd led the vampires an impressive chase; impressive enough that when they finally caught up to her, they hadn't killed her.

Not permenantly anyway.

"Hush, dearest," Vam Mi said fondly, tugging Mei's hands away from her face. "That is all in the past. You are part of our family now, and you are a worthy and valued part." She knelt beside her childe. "Now, of this prey I have procured for you. It will be very challenging, and _very_ dangerous. It will be a test of your skill and your courage."

Mei's eyes gleamed and she sidled closer.

"Tell me more, mother."

"There are four of them. All male, all strong, all trained in the ninja arts. No challenge to a Vampire Queen such as myself, but then, they are not _my_ prey. I recommend you take down the weakest of their number first, to hone your skills, gradually working your way up to the strongest. It will be up to you to decide which is which. I, of course, will supervise you, but the final kill will be yours…"

The two vampires bent their heads together, as Vam Mi prepared the youngest and strangest of her children for her first hunt.

---**  
**

**3. Might have taken up gardening**

"It's so small," Mei stared at the hole dug into the soft soil. Her voice was barely more than a whisper. "I thought it would be bigger."

Slash said nothing, just clutched the potted palm to his chest. Chung I was inside the house, giving the twins their bath. He had done it on purpose, allowing Mei and Slash their privacy. They wouldn't have to be strong before their childrens' eyes. They could weep and fall apart and rail against fate.

It was dark here in the bottom of the garden, just after sunset. Palm trees dotted the more traditional plants. Slash had planted a palm tree for every significant event in their lives. The tallest one was for him coming to China with her. The second biggest was for their wedding, with the words 'SLASH LUVS MEI 4EVA' carved in english into the trunk. Two slim palm trees growing side by side were for the twins' birth, five years ago.

"It's wrong," Mei blurted out suddenly. "We shouldn't do it here, not next to our marriage tree. Maybe– "

Slash laid one big hand on her shell and the words ran out. Tears filled her eyes as she looked down at the tiny cloth-wrapped bundle cradled in her arms.

"It just isn't right," she said. "This tree should be commemmorating his birth, not marking his grave."

"Slash knows." Her husband's voice was heavy. He set the palm tree on the ground, big fingers curling so carefully about the earthenware pot. For some reason – or no reason at all – that set her off, and she began to cry in great gasping sobs like someone drowning. Slash gently took the body of their son out of her arms and laid it on the soft earth. He wrapped his arms about Mei, and drew her against his broad chest. They remained like that for a long time, until Mei could calm herself

"Not fair," Slash said. She could hear his voice rumbling inside his chest where her head rested against his carapace. "Slash hurt. In here." He put his hand over his heart and Mei put her hand over his, feeling the reassuring, steady thud of his heartbeat.

"I know," she said. "I hurt too."

"Will be other babies?"

Her heart clenched and it was a moment before she could speak.

"Yes, there will be other babies."

"But not him."

"No. Never him."

They'd known this could happen. Building the population of an already endangered species was risky. Mei had no doctor – at least not one that knew anything about how her insides worked – and new life was always fragile. But she'd managed so well with the twins, giving birth with such relative ease. It had made them cocky this time around, so sure that with just the one baby everything would be fine…It made this doubly hard, wondering what they'd done, or what they hadn't done for this to turn out so differently.

"Make Slash sad. Make Slash want hurt things."

Mei felt the tremor that passed through Slash. Her husband had never attempted to hide the things he'd done from her. He was damaged, she knew, in ways far deeper than just his mental limitations. He had to struggle to articulate his rage and doubt, and expressed it most easily through violence. It had made their first year as friends difficult. It was only when he'd tended his palm trees (the plants for some reason soothed him as nothing else could) that he'd found another outlet for his rage. Gardening.

Since then, he'd channelled his confusion and frustration into their garden, creating works of surprising beauty and subtlety. He was never happier than when he was digging a new garden bed, face smudged with dirt, a beautific smile on his face as he shovelled. Chung I was happy to let him take over the gardening tasks, as he was getting too old to tend the gardens, and preferred to sit on the verandah with a cup of tea and 'supervise'. The twins, however, loved to help their father. There were many photos of them toddling after his enormous form, carrying their toy shovels, or sitting on top of the wheelbarrow as Slash trundled dirt from place to place, oversized floppy hats shielding their little green faces from the sun. Mei had been looking forward to taking pictures of the new child doing the exact same thing.

"It hurts now," she said. "Father says it will never really go away. But each day it will hurt a little less, until oneday we wake up, and he won't be the first thing we think of." She reached out and laid a hand on the small bundle. "Hurting things won't help. It will just make the whole process worse."

Slash reached out and laid his hand atop hers. For a moment, they stayed like that, unwilling to let go. Finally, Mei looked at her husband, and he nodded. Together, they lifted the bundle and placed it in the hole.

"Did father tell you what he wanted to call him?" Mei asked. Somehow she managed to fight back tears. She'd named their first daughter, and Slash their first son, but neither of them had been able to imagine a name for this third, stillborn child. They couldn't send their son to the grave nameless, so they'd asked Chung I to choose.

Slash nodded.

"Heng," he said. "He say Heng."

"Heng," Mei repeated softly, musingly.

"You like?"

"It's a good name. A strong name."

There would be other babies, she knew. Eventually there would be other babies, maybe even other sons. With the four turtles in New York that Slash spoke of, there was even the vague possibility that their species would survive. But there would never, ever be another Heng. That was the truth of it. That small, sweet life had never truly begun, that myriad of possiblities ending instead in this shallow grave.

Mei watched as her husband picked up his shovel, and with painful slowness, began to fill the grave.

---

**4. Might have entered politics**

"Not the blue. The black today I believe."

Ming's fingers fisted briefly in the garment she was holding, before relaxing. She smoothed out the material with both fingers and a touch of telekinesis.

"Of course, husband."

She handed the garment off to one of her servent girls, a dragon girl that bowed low and backed away, dress clutched to her chest. Another dragon girl brought the black dress to Ming and helped her dress. Ming accepted the aid as she accepted everything else: with a distant expression and smooth grace.

Huang's own dressers tightened the straps of his armor and laid his yellow cape about his shoulders. He cast a formidable figure of a dragon once they were done. He nodded once as Ming smoothed the material of her dress over her carapace.

"Much better," he said.

Ming gave him a cold little smile.

"So long as my husband is pleased," she said. She had long perfected the act of loving wife. Her husband knew it was an act of course, and couldn't have cared less. All that mattered to him was that she performed the motions, upheld the pretence, and continued to acquiesce to his commands in public. So long as she trotted out the same ritualistic answers, he left her well enough alone.

Huang waved away his dressers with one gauntleted hand. He held out his arm, and Ming glided over to him like a well trained pet, laying her hand atop his. They waited long enough for the dressers to set the crowns on their heads and then they glided from their chambers. The dragon bodyguards fell into line behind them, feet tramping.

"I am pleased," her husband remarked, quietly enough that his voice reached her ears alone. "We look like a god and goddess fallen from heaven."

"The key word being 'look'," she said in the same quiet tone. The smile never left her face. "Your pretences are ambitious, but they are nothing more than that: pretences."

"So long as my enemies and my allies believe it, what need is there for truth?"

"That you even need to ask that questions demonstrates that you will never understand the answer," Ming shot back, adding under her breath: "_Dragonskull_."

Her husband clenched his teeth at the mention of the name he had abandoned years ago. But he had no time to reprimand her, as his advisor was already approaching.

"Good morning, my Lord Huang Long, my Lady Zhi Ming." Wick bowed so low, his snout touched the ground. His grovelling disgusted Ming, but she let none of her revulsion show on her face. "The ground trembles beneath your mighty feet! The flowers weep for your beauty! The clouds – !"

"Enough." Huang's single word silenced Wick. "What is on today's agenda?"

"Ah." Wick straightened. "First, the execution of the traitors Ho Long, Bai Long, and Fu Long…"

"More public executions," Ming said. "Must I attend? I am bored with all these beheadings."

She felt her husband's arm tense beneath hers, and knew that he quelled his temper along with his muscles.

"One moment," he said to Wick, and the odious little dragon bowed out of earshot. Huang turned to Ming. "Do you remember when I made you my Empress?"

Ming kept her face expressionless.

"I do," she said.

"And do you remember why?"

"I believe it was because you liked the idea of marrying the daughter of your greatest enemy. One final victory over an already defeated foe." She delivered the reasoning in a calm, even tone.

"And…?"

"And… because you liked the symmetry. A turtle and a dragon, much like the mythical Tortoise of the North and the Dragon of the Centre. You wished to present yourself as a god and an emperor, and I could help in that pretence."

"You are correct. Do you also remember what I said to you that day?"

Ming stared sightlessly ahead.

"You said I must forget my previous life," she said, quoting him from memory. "That I must strike my old name from my memory and become exactly what you wished me to be."

Cruel fingers pinched her face and he forced her to look at him.

"And have you?" He asked.

She stared back up at him, no flicker of expression betraying the hatred roiling within her breast.

"You know I have."

He searched her face a moment longer, then released her. He waved Wick over and they continued where they had left off.

Ming stood silently, letting Wick's words wash over her in a meaningless buzz of sound. She thought of the name that her father had called her by, cleaving fiercely to the memory. She could not afford to forget her name. If she did, there would be no one around to remind her. Her father was dead, as well as everyone from her old life. No doubt even Huang had forgotten her original name moments after he'd stripped her of it. It frightened her how she actually had to think about it, how she had to grope through the misty fogs of memory for a few terrifying seconds before she could recall her name. _I won't forget_. _I won't. _

She would bide her time, and gather power to her in small subtle ways, and oneday she'd kill the monster who called himself her husband, just as he'd killed her father. Already, events were in motion. It was a pity about Ho Long and the rest. He had been her contact with the dragons who were unsatisfied with Huang's rule. His execution would set her plans back for some time. The only good thing to come out of all this was that he hadn't betrayed her name under questioning. Huang might suspect her involvement, but without solid proof, he wouldn't move against her.

Huang's pressure on her arm drew her back to the present.

"Come, Ming," he said, and she didn't think she was imagining the faint gloating tone in his voice. "We have an execution to attend."

Inside, Mei Pieh Chi screamed in rage and frustration. Outside, the Empress of Dragons, Zhi Ming, allowed herself to be drawn down the corridor, acceding gracefully to her husband's command.

---

**5. Might have made a friend**

"Hello."

The turtle girl looked up. She was sitting in a Hong Kong alleyway, trying to tame a mouse with stale bread crumbs.

There was a little girl about her age standing on some steps leading up to the back entrance of some seedy apartment block. She was wearing hand-me-down clothes that were too big for her, and she wiped her nose with a too-long sleeve. She had the awkward angular features of someone who would be stunning when they grew up, but had yet to grow into her face.

"Hello," she repeated.

"Hello," the turtle girl said, not knowing what else to say. People rarely spoke to her, preferring to throw stones or giggle from a distance. This approach was new to her.

"Whatcher doing?" The human girl asked.

"Playing with the mouse."

The human girl seemed to think this an interesting enough past time. She sat down on the bottom step, watching the turtle girl toss crumbs to the mouse. She didn't say anything about the other girl's appearance, either too polite, or thinking it too self-evident to even bother commenting on.

"I used to have a pet mouse," she said abruptly. "He ate bread and water and he'd sleep on my chest. I called him Monty."

"What happened to him?"

"Komodo didn't like him. He said he pooped everywhere, so he made Mom drown Monty in a bucket of water."

The human girl said this in the matter-of-fact tones of a child for whom violence has become common place. It was a language that the turtle girl intuitively understood and responded to.

"I'm trying to teach this one to talk," she said, pointing at the mouse. "But I don't think he wants to learn."

"Ah, who wants to hear a mouse talk?" the human girl shrugged. "It's probably got nothing interesting to say anyways."

"My father always said that mice could go anywhere, that because they were so small, they could squeeze into all the secret places and knew where all the treasures of the world were." The turtle girl tossed the last of the crumbs to the mouse. "Is Komodo your father?" She asked curiously.

"No. He just takes care of my mom and me. What about you? Where's your dad?"

"Dead."

The turtle girl would have been more upset about this, but she had only the vaguest memories of her father, or of the flu that had taken him one winter and left her homeless. The people who'd come to collect the furniture had chased her out into the streets with curses and shouts of 'demon-child'.

"So where do you live then?" The human girl asked.

"Around. Everywhere."

The turtle girl slept wherever she could find a warm spot at night. Her appearance sometimes helped, scaring off competitors for food and space. Sometimes it brought gangs that tried to stone her. This human child was perhaps the first to show absolutely no reaction.

"Where's your _house_?" She said insistently.

"I don't got one." The turtle girl said.

The human girl nodded thoughtfully, without judgement.

"Komodo is always saying he should throw mom and me out on the streets," she said. "Since mom's a no-good whore, and we're just lucky he's so generous." She said this in the sing-song tones of a child quoting her elders without comprehending the full meaning.

"Is your mom really a whore?" The turtle girl asked curiously.

"I guess. Everyone says so." The human girl wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Want to be friends?"

The turtle-girl stared at her in surprise.

"I guess that would be okay," she said cautiously. Feeling compelled to warn the other girl, she added: "I've never had a friend before."

"That's okay. Me neither. I'm Pimiko. What's your name?"

"Demon-Child."

Pimiko made a face.

"For serious?"

The turtle girl shrugged.

"That's what everyone calls me," she said. Whatever name her father might have originally called her had long since been forgotten.

"Well it's stupid," Pimiko said authoritively. "From now on you're going to be…Princess Kumeyo, and I'm your friend Pimiko, and we're going to grow up to be deadly konoichi and anyone who messes with us is going to be real sorry."

The newly dubbed Princess Kumeyo gave a hesitant smile. The loss of the old name didn't bother her; was in fact kind of a relief. This new name was long and pretty and the fact that someone cared enough to change it was wonderful in and of itself.

"Really?" She said.

"Really-really," Pimiko said. "You'll see. You and me are going to be the bestest of friends."

---

**6. Might have travelled through time**

"Excuse me. Have you seen a staff anywhere? It's about yay-big, allows people to travel through time. You can't miss it."

Renet looked hopefully at one of the inhabitants of this dimension. This inhabitant – who appeared to be a female mutant turtle – looked both confused and suspicious of the pretty blonde woman who'd just appeared in her kitchen.

"Are you a demon?" She asked in thickly accented english.

"Demon?" Renet said. "Me? Hell, no. I'm a Timestress."

"And what is that exactly?"

"Oh, it means I pop all over the time stream, fixing up little snags and problems and just basically making sure that everything runs according to plan. Y'know, that whole deal. So have you seen my staff? It's really rather important."

"Oh. Over there." The female turtle pointed to a staff leaning against the wall, apparently deciding that Renet was either a harmless lunatic or telling the absolute truth. "My father found it on his evening walk."

"Awesome! Thanks!" Renet walked over to the staff and picked it up. "I've been looking for this for ages. I'm Renet, by the way."

"I am Mei Pieh Chi." The turtle was studying her thoughtfully. "If you don't mind me asking… what are you doing in this dimension? Is there a problem you need to fix?"

"Not exactly."

"What do you mean, 'not exactly?'"

"Well…" Renet sighed. "Look, this is really rather embarrassing, seeing as you just helped me and all. But the truth is, your dimension has been deemed obsolete and scheduled for erasure."

"_What_?"

"I'm really sorry," Renet said. "But my orders come from higher up. There's nothing I can do."

"But – but." Mei looked quite pale despite her green skin. "_Why_? Why would they want to erase us?"

"Well, that I'm not too clear on. I just take the orders and erase the dimensions. Easier that way, y'know, without knowing the reasons and getting attached and all. But so far as I can make out, it's something to do with a 'Venus De Milo'. Do you know what that is?"

The turtle shrugged.

"Isn't that a painting?" She said.

"Beats me. But the boss man upstairs says it has to be purged from this dimension and the whole thing built from the ground up. He has some big ideas he wants to work with, and apparently this Venus will get in the way. That's why I was sent to this point in the timeline, before it becomes a problem."

"Over a_ painting_?"

"Yeah." Renet shrugged. "I never said the higher ups were exactly all there, y'know what I'm saying?"

She looked Mei up and down thoughtfully. The turtle woman seemed smart and sensible and Renet could smell the potential for power in her. With some training, she could be quite useful.

"You know, I might have an idea," she said. "I can't spare this universe, but I _do_ kind of need a sidekick. You know, to take notes and schedules and make sure I don't lose my staff. Most importantly to make sure I don't lose the staff. Lord Simultaneous says if I lose it one more time, he'll handcuff it to my wrist. Interested?"

Mei looked about the room, and all it's homely furnishings; the kettle on the stove, the vegetables half-peeled on the cutting board.

"But my father…" she said helplessly. "He needs me."

"He won't need you soon," Renet said. "In a few minutes, he will never have existed at all. Just like you, if you stay."

Mei continued to stare about the room in a helpless daze.

"None of this will have existed," she said.

"No," Renet said frankly, seeing no point in comforting euphemisms. "But you will. You'll be able to remember it as it was. So what do you say? Be my sidekick?"

Mei looked back at Renet, and managed a watery smile.

"Okay," she said.

"Okay? Awesome! Now just hold my hand." Renet held out her hand and Mei grasped it tightly. "You might feel a slight tingling sensation. Nothing to worry about. That's just your dimension imploding. And on one, two, three…"

Renet waved the staff, and the universe popped out of existance.

---

**7. Might have been born**

**--- **

**Notes:** Most of the characters featured here come from one of the various ninja turtle universes. Vam Mi, Dragonskull, Wick and Chung I belong to the Next Mutation universe. Ho Long is the name I gave to the anonymous 'good dragon' that Mei tries to help during that series.

Pimiko and Renet feauture in the comics, and Slash is a fifth mutant turtle from the cartoon (I think). The only characters I own are the twins, and some nameless dragon servants. Oh, and a mouse that doesn't talk. If I haven't been clear about who someone is, just let me know. The hard part about AU's is making it clear what has happened to lead to such a different outcome, and it's always helpful to get feedback.

---


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